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The plan

Roast coffee at home using a computer controlled popcorn roaster requiring no intervention other than putting in raw green beans and then putting cooled roasted beans into storage bags.

Hardware required

Item

Obtained

Popcorn roaster

Sunbeam popasaurus which has been sitting in its box for 5 years. Air roasted popcorn sucks, so no issues canabalising it :P

Computer

Old Toshiba Tecra 8100 laptop. The laptop is missing a battery, and is pretty useless for anything else. It has a 450 MHz processor, 192MB ram and 6GB HD. Not a powerhouse, but a roast controller could run on a 8088...

Case for controller

I used an old ATX powersupply case. Try and find one with monitor pass through power connector.

2 x 240 volt switches

1 light dimmer

I bought the switches and dimmer on a light swich plate for $6 at a local market.

I wouldn't bother with the light dimmer unless you get it dirt cheap, I normally have it set to full power.

1 x ~24 volt Transformer

I bought a 56v primary, 28v secondary transformer from Dick Smith (model M0144) for $9.98. I think they are no longer stocked. The secondary 28v winding is used for the popper. Its rated at 2 amps for 56v which is more than sufficient. If you use a light dimmer a higher voltage transformer should be OK, just make sure you calibrate the max voltage out and restrict the dimmer knob from going past that point.

Molex power connector chopped off from old Hardisk drive. IEC power cable from junk box. I chose these parts as they are readily available for free so you can potentially modify a spare standby popper, or try making a corretto using a heat gun.

If your washer ever makes a racket and starts to smell like burning rubber, this might be it:

What is it?

Its called a spider, and one of its legs is broken. This caused the drum to lean to one side if the washing was out of balance towards the 2 intact legs, and eventually it scraped into the side of the outer drum and seal.

Luckily I was near by when this happened and was able to turn the washer off before it damaged any parts beyond serviceable.